The Story Behind the "M"

The "M" is 620 feet above the Missoula Valley floor. It is 125' feet long and 100' feet wide. University of Montana forestry students cut the switchbacks into the side of the hill in the early 1900's. The first "M" was assembled out of whitewashed rocks in 1909, and given a fresh coat of paint by freshmen every year, until 1968, when all those rocks were cemented together with concrete.

Photo by Nelson Kenter, kenterphotography.com

Posts Tagged ‘fly fishing in Montana’

The Importance of Varying Dry Fly Patterns While Fly Fishing in Missoula

Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing a fly fishing expedition in Missoula and planning where to cast your favorite dry flies for trout.... more

FWP “Kids to Fish” Program Allows Anglers to Borrow Gear & Tackle For Free

A popular Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks program that allows kids and their friends or families to check out free fishing rods and tackle is in full swing again this year. ... more

Teaching A Man How to Fish: Guide For Beginners

If you are interested in learning to fish or teaching someone to do so, then this guide is for you.... more

Ducks Unlimited Dumps Access Advocate

By ROB BREEDING- It will be unfortunate if DU's conservation mission suffers due to this misguided decision.... more

Fishing Moose

By ROB BREEDING- I’m not sure I really appreciated how dangerous moose can be until I saw a video of a man who was killed by one on the University of Alaska campus.... more

Dry Rot in the Bitterroot

By ROB BREEDING- The 10th percentile in June means most rivers will be nearly bone dry in August.... more

Dry Rot in the Bitterroot

By ROB BREEDING- The 10th percentile in June means most rivers will be nearly bone dry in August.... more

Psychedelic Trout

By ROB BREEDING- Being late for fishing may be an unpardonable sin for Norman Maclean, but I know one far worse: not going fishing at all.... more

Of River Bondage

By ROB BREEDING- There are many variations of the old saying, “You can judge the true character of a society by the way it treats its …” My rendition: ..."by the way it treats its rivers".... more

Blue-Winged is the New Black

By ROB BREEDING- It's been my kind of winter: a blue-winged olive winter. Hardcore dry fly junkies know the sure signs of blue-winged weather: canceled ice-fishing and pond hockey tournaments. ... more

Trout Numbers Remain High in Missouri River

By BRUCE AUCHLY - Fish surveys this year indicate rainbow and brown trout numbers remain above the long-term average in the Missouri River between Holter Dam and the town of Cascade, says a state fisheries biol... more

Somewhere in the Middle of Montana

By ROB BREEDING. I didn’t toss it all to move to Montana two decades ago because of a song. My primary affliction was trout, and there’s a lot of trout-rich habitat in the Northern Rockies. ... more

A Midsummer Night’s Stream

By MATT DEVLIN - Picture the river as it lays in wait. In perfect veiled darkness, our finned friends hold like sails in the wind, controlling with every pitch and pull, their own place in the world.... more

Summer Solstice: Paint it Black

By MATT DEVLIN - (Video) As the summer solstice comes and goes, the days begin a slight but evident bend towards fall. We’ve been getting busy sharing our rivers, our trout, and our love of fly fishing.... more

Take Her Fishing

By MATT DEVLIN - Take her fishing because she deserves it, to impress her, or to say thank you, or sorry. But Whatever you do, just take her fishing a time or two before the summer.... more

Montana’s Clark Fork River: A Return to Glory

By BRYCE MCLEAN - As most of you probably already know, they opened up the Clark Fork from Turah to Sharon last week. Just like the rest of Missoula I couldn't wait to fish it...and it didn't disappoint.... more

In Love with a River: Montana’s Bitterroot River

By MATT DEVLIN - (VIDEO) I'm frequently asked which of Montana's rivers is my favorite. My answer: the Bitterroot River--why? Because she's the hardest to catch fish out of. ... more

Early Runoff: Is the Skwala Hatch Finished? A Rundown of Area Rivers

By BRYCE MCLEAN - Here's a complete run down of the areas rivers so you can make an educated decision on where you want to fish this week.... more

The Mighty Missouri: My All Time Favorite Trout River

By BRYCE MCLEAN - As much as I love the movie "A River Runs Through it" and as amazing as the fishing on the Blackfoot can be, my all-time favorite trout stream Has to be the Missouri.... more

The Elusive Skwala Hatch

By BRYCE MCLEAN - I have been fishing the skwala hatch since I was 10 years old. And after all that time I've learned: If you think you "definitely" know when it's going to happen, you are most certainly going ... more

The Fish It Guide to Fall Flies

By MATT DEVLIN - The pigskin is flying, the leaves are a’changing, the trout aren’t so willing in the morning. Fall's arrived. Here are the best flies for the season.... more

The Year of the Big Blackfoot

By BRYCE MCLEAN - The Blackfoot River has once again risen to the top of many anglers' lists of the greatest trout streams in North America, and it has been sweet.... more

The Perfect Pair: Montana Craft Beers & Fly Fishing

By MATT DEVLIN & BRYCE MCLEAN - There's no better way to beat the heat than enjoying a cold beer while flyfishing. Here are our favorite local beer and river pairings.... more

A Flyfishing Dream Fulfilled

By BRYCE MCLEAN - Take it from me, go to Belize with a fly rod. There's no place like it. And there are few things like seeing 100 bonefish feeding 60 feet off your boat.... more

Spring Flyfishing Highlights and the Pursuit of a Dream

By BRYCE MCLEAN - (VIDEO) My dad, brother, and I have long dreamt of catching some big 'uns on a salt water fishing trip. The dream will soon be reality.... more

Spring Runoff: Big Wheels Keep on Turnin’

By MATT DEVLIN - When the rivers are blown and life is playing like a bad country song, there's only one thing to do: Ride it out in hope of clear, trout-filled waters.... more

How to Escape the Boat Hatch

By BRYCE MCLEAN - It's no mystery that spring brings good dry fly fishing the Bitterroot. But to escape the crowds, you've gotta venture to other rivers around Western Montana.... more

Zen and the Art of Not Fishing At All

By BRYCE MCLEAN - The other day, I was reminded of one of the great traditions of fly fishing: Not fishing at all, but just enjoying the scenery and watching the river flow by.... more

It’s Skwala Season on the Bitterroot River

By BRYCE MCLEAN - It's a special time of year to fish in Montana. When you look through snowflakes to see a 22-inch brown come up for a dry fly, you'll know what I mean.... more

Skwala Time

By ROB BREEDING. We’re just barely breaking the shackles of winter but things are about to turn on for fly fishers. March heralds the arrival of one of Montana’s great hatches: skwala stoneflies on the Bitt... more

Fly Fishing Film Tour This Friday at the Wilma

By BRYCE MCLEAN - The Fly Fishing Film Tour is this Friday at the Wilma!... more

Fall is for Swinging for Steelhead

By MATT DEVLIN and BRYCE MCLEAN - Fly-fishing for steelhead trout in the high-desert hills of eastern Idaho is all one could ever ask it to be.... more